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Finding Songs, Arias, and Translations

Popular Songs and Musicals

Author Title Location Information
University of Washington Libraries UW Library Catalog https://catalog.lib.washington.edu/search/X
  1. If you know your song is part of a musical, search the title of the musical.
  2. If you do not know where your song comes from, try a keyword search in the UW catalog.
  3. Limit your Publication Type to either Printed Music Scores or Musical Sound Recordings.
  4. Still no luck? Try the indexes listed below or ask a librarian for help.
University of Washington
Music Library		 Popular Song Database http://db.lib.washington.edu/popsong/ Index of songs from UW owned anthologies
Bloom, Ken American song (Music Reference) ML128.M78 B6 1996
Brunnings, Florence E. Folk song index (Music Reference) ML128.F74 B83
Ferguson, Gary Lynn Song finder (Music Reference) ML128.S3 F47 1995
Goodfellow, William D. Songcite: an index to popular songs (Music Reference) ML128.P63 G65 1995 See all (Music Reference) ML128.P63 G65 1995 Supplement
Goodfellow, William D. Where’s that tune? (Music Reference) ML128.P63 G66 1990
Havlice, Patricia Pate Popular song index (Music Reference) ML128.S3 H4 This title includes four supplements located at the same call number
Luchinsky, Ellen The song index of the Enoch Pratt Free Library (Music Reference) ML128.S3 L665 1998
Oberlin College Libraries and Sing Out! The Folk Song Index http://www.oberlin.edu/library/con/singout_intro.html Index to traditional folk songs of the world. Entries include the song title, first line of chorus, first line of verse, and full bibliographic information on the source.
University of Tennessee
George F. DeVine Music Library		 UTK Song Index http://www.lib.utk.edu/music/songdb/ Index of songs from the University of Tennessee owned anthologies

Arias and Art Songs

Author Title Location Information
University of Washington Libraries UW Library Catalog https://catalog.lib.washington.edu/search/X
  1. If you know your song is part of an opera, oratorio or song cycle, search the title of the larger work.
  2. If you do not know where your song comes from, try a keyword search in the UW catalog.
  3. Limit your Publication Type to either Printed Music Scores or Musical Sound Recordings.
  4. Still no luck? Try the indexes listed below or ask a librarian for help.
University of Washington
Music Library		 Aria and Art Song Index http://db.lib.washington.edu/arias/ Index of arias and art songs from UW owned anthologies
De Charms, Desiree Songs in collections (Music Reference and Suzzallo/Allen Stacks) ML128.S3 D37
Goleeke, Tom Literature for voice (Music Reference)ML128.S3 G64 1984
Sears, Minnie Earl Song index (Music Reference) ML128.S3 S31
University of Tennessee
George F. DeVine Music Library		 UTK Song Index http://www.lib.utk.edu/music/songdb/ Index of songs from the University of Tennessee owned anthologies
Arizona State University Song index http://info.lib.asu.edu/BRS/gate.exe?f=search&state=b160p7.1.1 Index of songs from Arizona State University owned anthologies
Los Angeles Public Library Song index http://www.lapl.org/resources/indexes/allsong.html Index of arias and art songs from LAPL owned anthologies

Film Songs

Author Title Location
Bloom, Ken Hollywood song (Music Reference) ML128.M7 B6 1995

Hymns and Hymn Tunes

Author Title Location
Diehl, Katharine Smith Hymns and tunes (Music Stacks) BV305.D5 1966
Julian, John A dictionary of hymnology (Suzzallo/Allen Stacks) BV305.J8 1957
Kroeger, Karl An index to Anglo-American psalmody in modern critical editions (Music Stacks) ML128.H8 K76 2000
Temperley, Nicholas The hymn tune index (Music Stacks) ML128.H8 T46 1998
Wasson, D. Dewitt Hymntune index and related hymn materials (Music Stacks) ML3186.W2 1998

Children’s Songs

Author Title Location
Laughlin, Kay The children’s song index (Music Reference) ML128.S3 C55 1996
Peterson, Carolyn Sue Index to children’s songs (Children’s Literature) ML128.S3 P48

Lyrics, Translations, and Pronunications

Author Title Location Information
IPA Source http://www.ipasource.com/ The the web’s largest library of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and literal translations of opera arias and art song texts. Now with over 6066 texts including 1089 aria texts!
University of Washington Libraries UW Library Catalog https://catalog.lib.washington.edu/search/X Search for translations in scores and recording linear notes.

  1. Search the title of the musical or opera as keyword.
  2. Add a keyword of english for an english translation. You may also try adding the keyword translation* (* will bring up translation and tranlations in the same search).
  3. Limit your Publication Type to either Printed Music Scores or Musical Sound Recordings
  4. Still no luck? Try the indexes listed below or ask a librarian for help.
University of Washington
Music Library		 Universy of Washington Song Translation Database http://db.lib.washington.edu/songtrans/ Index of book translations held at the UW libraries
Aria Database http://www.aria-database.com/ Provides basic information on each aria along with translations and texts for many arias.
The Lied and Song Texts Page http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/ Archive of texts to Lieder and other Classical vocal works with some translations provided
Coffin, Beron Phonetic readings of songs and arias (Music Stacks) MT883.C632 1964
Coffin, Berton Word-by-word translations of songs and arias (Music Stacks) ML54.6.W65 v.1-2
Miller, Philip Lieson The ring of words (Music stacks) ML54.6.M5 R5 1973
Phillips, Lois Lieder line by line, and word for word (Music Stacks) ML54.6.P55 L5
Library of Congress Catalog of opera librettos printed before 1800 (Music Stacks) ML136.L3 O5 v.1-2 Also known as the “Albert Schatz Collection.” Volume one contains a title catalog and volume two contains an author list, composer list and aria index.
Naxos Music Library Naxos Music Library Naxos Music Library Naxos contains a select number of librettos, some with English translations. Go to the Resources tab, Operas and librettos.
Important Sources of Libretti in the Internet http://wwwsys.informatik.fh-wiesbaden.de/weber1/opera/lib.htm